Admin Victor 10,940 Posted August 17, 2019 Admin Share Posted August 17, 2019 It was my intention to do a “Who is Jason Glasser?” Media Spot for my expansion week special, until @McWolf swooped in and did one on Jason's more recent stint as the GM of Ottawa in the VHLM. To be honest, this is probably for the best, as other than the fact he was good, I don't actually know many specifics about Glasser's VHLM tenures. Therefore, a full GM profile of Jason Glasser would require a bit of research while a profile of VHL GM Jason Glasser I can do almost from memory. It's quite easy – Glasser was Calgary GM for the entirety of my favourite player's career, when I was probably at my most active, and then throughout most of my tenure as VHL commissioner. Overall, I remember it quite vividly. I was angling for a return to Calgary almost from the day Lars Berger left after that magical double success of S18 and S19, and this only accelerated once he retired and Alexander Chershenko was created. The Wranglers weren't necessarily in the best place at the time, with Jardy's aggressive buying resulting in the cup win in S23 but also a quick collapse in S24, so this was more of a sentimental decision than anything else. However, participating in the Calgary locker room in that intervening Berger-Chershenko period gave me full confidence in the ability of their new GM, who probably started with fewer assets than he will with his expansion team in a few weeks' time. Indeed, those first seasons in Calgary are probably the best evidence of Glasser's ability as GM and proof that the new VHL franchise is in safe hands. Picking out the highlights of that march to the S30 Continental Cup is actually quite difficult, but there was an air of inevitability about it, as every trade and draft pick seemed to come off. The likes of Volodymyr Rybak, Ryan Sullivan @Advantage, Jim Gow @flyersfan1453, and Klaus Muller @solas were drafted to the team, some were obvious picks, but some were inspired, and just getting into those draft positions without having much to sell from S25 to S27 was impressive enough. Glasser also managed to navigate a potentially franchise derailing goaltending situation early on in his reign. Jardy's recreate, the future Hall of Famer CAL G, had to be traded before Glasser himself could recreate, meaning the Wranglers were likely to need to draft Satan in the S27 draft. Instead, Davos GM Frank Chadwick, whose own recreate was a goalie, Marius Henchoz, was interested in stepping down and Satan's agent Tyler Barabash was interested in taking over, meaning the two teams could work out a mutually beneficial deal whereby Davos got Satan and Phil Rafter @Phil while Calgary got Henchoz and Chershenko. Fittingly, the two teams involved in the CAL G/Satan/Henchoz trades, Davos and Seattle, were the two Calgary had to beat en route to S30 glory. The salary cap and expansion draft would hit the Wranglers harder than most because the roster was deeper and more active than pretty much any other in the league. Until then though, it was an iconic team Jason built up. From the Ukrainian connection (Rybak, Chershenko and the other Chershenko, Nikolai), to running a full '-enko' line (Chershenkos, Yuri Grigorenko, and Vladimir Boomchenko), Calgary was among the league's headline teams. The S30 cup was the culmination, but the S31 regular season domination was arguably the more impressive demonstration of the depth and star power built up by the team's GM. It was also undoubtedly the peak of Glasser's reign. Indeed, while most GMs would dream of a then-record setting 17-season GM reign, spending most of it in the playoffs, and taking home 3 Top GM trophies, I suspect that in addition to the unique opportunity of building up your own team and legacy from scratch, Glasser put his name forward for an expansion franchise in part to make sure the end of his Calgary reign wasn't the lasting memory of his VHL GM career. That S30-S31 team fell apart quickly, as for various reasons stars like Chershenko and Sullivan made their way to the Wranglers' main rival in New York. The goaltending situation also deteriorated, as Henchoz retired, was replaced by Skylar Rift @Devise, who then jumped ship in free agency to Quebec – such a controversial story it got its own 40 in 40 article. The team's foundation remained solid and competitive, but Glasser mortgaged the future to supplement it, first by bringing back Chershenko, then by trading for another goalie in Alexander Labatte. The Wranglers didn't get the second cup they possibly deserved and then after S35 the rebuild was always behind its rivals. In the end, a surprise first-round win in S40 was the only further success they could muster. So to answer the initial question; who is Jason Glasser, the VHL GM? At his best, he is meticulous and a brilliant drafter who can build competitive teams from scratch, but when real life caught up with him, the Wranglers also suffered. I am confident that the one who will show up with *spoiler alert* Prague will be the first, but it's probably even better that he still has something to prove despite vast GM experience previously. I for one can't wait to see how the European Conference's newest franchise develops. @diamond_ace McWolf, Phil and eaglesfan036 2 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/67951-who-is-jason-glasser-the-vhl-gm/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
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